Rail-insulating means.



F. V. McGINNESS 61 J. B. N. CARDOZA.

RAIL INSULATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-30, I9I7- Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

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insulated rail joints in common use.

UNITEE STATE PATENT @FFICE.

FRANCIS V. MGGINNESS, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, AND JOHN B. N. CARDOZA, OF VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA.

RAIL-INSULATING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 11, 1919,

Application filed October 30, 1917. Serial No.199,287.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANCIS V. MoGrN- nnss, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Orange, Essex county, New Jersey, and JOHN B. N. CARDOZA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Virginia Beach, Princess Anne county, Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Insulating Means, of which the following is a description.

Our invention relates to rail insulating means and particularly to an improved rail section for use in a railroad track to insulate one portion of the track from another, as is necessary in signaling systems. The principal object of our invention is to provide a simple, efficient and durable means for this purpose in which the insulating ma terial is not subjected tothe heavy pressure produced by passing trains, as is the casziln other object of our invention is to provide an improved rail joint in which the connecting means is interlocked with adjoining rail ends. D

For a complete description of our invention, reference is had to the drawing accompanying and forming part ofthis specification, and in which:

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of one embodiment of our improved rail section connected in place in the track;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in'section of our improved rail section shown discon nected from the track;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4. is a vertical section taken on the line 4.4: of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6- is an end view of an insulating member for separating the adjacent ends of the sub-sections; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are side elevations partly in section of modified forms of our improved rail section.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, our improved rail section comprises. two rail sub-sections 1 and 2. These rail sections are preferably provided with longitudinally extending recessed portions 9 and 10 which are preferably screw threaded. In the recesses 9 and 10 are inserted shells of insulating material 11 and 12 which are preferably screw threaded on the exterior to fit the interior of the recesses 9 and 10 and are also preferably screw threaded on the inside. A connecting member 13, preferably screw threaded to fit the shells, is provided to be inserted into the shells and thereby secure the two sub-sections 1 and 2 together. The connecting member 13 may be made of vanadium steel or other suitable material. An insulating member 14: having an opening 15through which the member 13 passes is provided to space the adjacent ends of the sub-sections 1 and 2 apart and insulate them from each other. The connecting member 13 is thus interlocked with the adjacent rail ends, and the sub-sections are connected together mechanically and insulated from each other. The webs of the non-adjacent ends of the sub-sections are :provided with holes 16 and 17 for connection to the adjoining alined track rails 18 and 19 by means of the usual fish plates 20 and 21 and bolts 22 and 23.

Our improved rail section may be assembled by threading the insulating shells into the recesses'designed to receive them, then screwing the connecting member 13 into one of said shells in place in its sub-section, then threading the insulating member 14; upon the connecting member 13 and screwing the other sub-section With its insulating shell in place upon the other end of the connecting member 13 so that the sub-sections 1 and 2- and the connecting member so covered is screw threaded into suitably shaped recesses 29 and 30 formed in the ends of the subsections 1 and 2. Suitable insulating shells apart the sub-section ends as in the construc-- tions hereinbefore described. The sub-sections are thus interlockingly connected and insulated from each other.

Our improved rail section may be assembled, if desired, at the factory and shipped as a unit ready for connection in the track at any desired point.

. It is apparent that the insulating materia In our improved rail section does not at any time carry the entire or any considerable portion of the weight of trains passing over the track, and inasmuch as the insulating material is not subjected to heavy strains, the durability of the insulating joint is greatly increased.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7 the connecting member has its maximum cross section where the strain is greatest, i. 6., at and between the adjacent ends of the subsections. Furthermore, even a slight taper will permit the insulating material upon the connecting member to be placed under a uniformly distributed compressive strain in a confined space, thereby contributing materially to the strength of the structure.

WVhile we have shown and specifically described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that the same is subject to many modifications and changes in the size, form and arrangement of its parts without any departure from the spirit of the invention and the scope of'the appended claims.

Having now described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is as follows 1. A rail section comprising a pair of alined rail sub-sections, one of said subsections having a recess in the end thereof and the other of said sub-sections being provided with means extending therefrom into said recess, whereby said sub-sections are connected together mechanically and insulated from each other, substantially as described.

2. A rail section comprising a pair of alined rail sub-sections having longitudinally extending screw threaded recesses in their adjacent ends, an insulating shell fitted into each of said recesses, and a connecting member having its ends extended into said shells and in engagement therewith, substantially as described.

3. A rail section comprising a pair of alined rail sub-sections having longitudinallv extending screw threaded recesses in their adjacent ends, an insulating shell fitted into each of said recesses, a connecting mem-' her having its ends extending into said shells in engagement therewith, and an in sulating member between the adjacent ends of said sub-sections, substantially as described.

4. A rail section comprising a pair of alined rail sub-sections having longitudinally extending tapered recesses in their adjacent ends, and a connecting member having tapered ends fitted into said recesses and insulated therefrom, substantially as described.

5. A rail section comprising a plurality of alined rail sub-sections, and means interlocked therewith for connecting said subsections together and insulating the same from each other, including insulating material under compression in a confined space, substantially as described. I

6'. A rail section comprising a pair of alined rail sub-sections, one of said sub-sections having a tapered screw-threaded recess in the end thereof, and the other of said sub-sections being provided with a correspondingly tapered screw-threaded extension extending therefrom into said recess, and insulating material interposed under compression between screw-threaded portions of said extension and of the walls of said recess, substantially as described.

FRANCIS V. McGINNESS.

J. B. N. CARDOZA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained' ioriive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D; 0'. 

